Consider the Octopus - by Nora Raleigh Baskin & Gae Polisner (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When chance, or fate, throws two twelve-year-olds together on board a scientific research ship at the edge of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, it's not all smooth sailing!

Jeremy "JB" Barnes is looking forward to spending the summer before seventh grade hanging on the beach. But his mother, a scientist, has called for him to join her aboard a research ship where, instead, he'll spend his summer seasick and bored as he stares out at the endless plastic, microbeads, and other floating debris, both visible and not, that make up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Miles and miles away, twelve-year-old Sidney Miller is trying to come up with an alternate activity worthy of convincing her overprotective parents that she can skip summer camp.

When Jeremy is asked to find the contact information for a list of important international scientists and invite them to attend a last-minute Emergency Global Summit, he's excited to have a chance to actually do something that matters to the mission. How could he know that the Sidney Miller he messages is not the famous marine biologist he has been tasked with contacting, but rather a girl making podcasts from her bedroom--let alone that she would want to sneak aboard the ship?

Nora Raleigh Baskin and Gae Polisner's Consider the Octopus is a comedy of errors, mistaken identity, and synchronicity. Above all, it is a heartfelt story about friendship and an empowering call to environmental protection, especially to our young people who are already stepping up to help save our oceans and our Earth.

Review Quotes

"A breath of fresh air. Clever plotting sprinkled with humor and accessible STEM references made this a joyful, bingeable adventure you won't want to put down." --Christine Taylor-Butler, author of The Lost Tribes series

"Funny, fast-paced, and super-engaging, Consider the Octopus is sure to inspire readers to embrace their strengths and change their world." --Joy McCullough, author of A Field Guide to Getting Lost

"Superlative writing and character development uplift this timely story . . . An inspiring tale of friendship and conservation." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

About the Author

Nora Raleigh Baskin is the ALA Schneider Family Book Award-winning author of Anything but Typical. She was chosen as a Publishers Weekly Flying Start author for her novel What Every Girl (Except Me) Knows, and has since written a number of novels for middle graders and teens, including The Truth About My Bat Mitzvah, The Summer Before Boys, Ruby on the Outside, and Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story, which received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Nora lives with her family in Connecticut.

Gae Polisner is the author of several prior novels including the award-winning The Memory of Things and In Sight of Stars. She lives on Long Island with her husband, two sons, a citrus-leatherback bearded dragon, and a suspiciously fictional-looking small dog. When not writing, Gae continues to practice family law, or can be found in a pool or the open waters off Long Island where she still hopes that, one day, her wetsuit will turn her into a superhero.